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tuesday 07.17.07
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| .going the distance |
Distance doesn't always make the heart grow fonder--at least not without a little help.
Whether you're living in different cities for a job, flying back and forth on business trips several times a year, or just spending so much time at the office that it sometimes feels like a long-distance relationship, you'll find good advice in The Long-Distance Relationship Survival Guide on how to make it work.
Married authors Chris Bell and Kate Brauer-Bell, themselves survivors of their own long-distance romance, explore what it takes for a relationship to succeed when you're miles apart (both literally and figuratively). They interviewed more than 100 couples, amassing plenty of great anecdotes, advice, and strategies for not only coping with long-distance relationships but making them flourish. The key, they say, is learning the essential skills that will help you build and nurture your relationship from afar--like establishing mutual goals and expectations, balancing emotional intimacy and sex, managing your time, and making the transition to living in the same city.
It's actually easier than ever to have a long-distance relationship. The internet and unlimited minutes on our cell phones make being apart at least a little more bearable. But until they invent a device that instantly teleports you to your partner's hotel room in Shanghai, there are going to be issues. It's all too easy to let your imagination run wild and start imagining all kinds of infidelities and untruths. On the plus side, when all you have are phone calls and email, you have an opportunity to become stronger as a couple by improving your communication skills.
But maybe the hardest part of a long-distance relationship is when you finally end up in the same city together. You'll need a whole other survival guide for that.
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